canonet help

[matt_m__toronto_]

i just picked up a canonet ql19 at a yardsale. the aperture blades to not turn

with the turning of the fstop ring. any ideas of a do it yourself at home fix?

 

the lens is in nice condition and shutter speeds sound on.

 

cheers

[leica ron]

Hey Matt,

 

This is a sweet little camera, but one thing to look out for is the light seals on the back door. There is a lot of it and perishes over the years.

 

Ron

[gib]

good luck I replaced seals on one and use some lighter fluid flushing and ite ended up dead. Looks nice on the shelf. Jon Goodman sells a nifty seals replacement kit with instructions, sealing material, tools for a very reasonable (aka cheap) price.

[johnny massey]

Another shout for Jon Goodman, great kits, great price, great bloke.

[m_.]

great - one asks for the aperture blades and got more than one answer about the importance of replacing the light seals. reminds me the plumber who came to my house to fix the faucet leak, instead, he replaced a cabinet handle and charged me $55 for it the other day.

 

matt, can't remember this clearly now but i think it is fairly complicated to fix the blade movement on this model. i think you have to work inside the camera chamber.

 

a quick fix though is to drop one small drop of oil on the blades from inside and then exercise the shutter until it works. i believe you can access to the blades if you open the back. i am not sure though if it damages the camera but that was what i did, and it worked.

[john_shriver]

The aperture blades don't move until you cock the camera, or maybe not until you start to depress the shutter. Something like that.

 

That said, both the shutter and aperture are notorious for getting oil-bound on this camera. Easy repair, however.

[miles_s.]

If your camera is an older and bigger Cannon QL19 with the bottom trigger wind forget about fixing it b/c the smaller units are nicer. That said I found the bigger units easier to fix.

 

I have never encountered a Canonet with frozen shutter or aperture that could not be fixed with a lighter fluid flush. Here are some useful links.

 

Matt M meet Matt D:

http://mattdentonphoto.com/cameras/canonet_QL17.html

 

For light seal replacement see here:

http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/sealreplacement.html

 

For good repair diagrams and notes see:

http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/repairmanuals.html

&

http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-30.html

[bobatkins]

John is right. On the QL17, which is very similar, the aperture doesn't change unless the shutter is cocked.

 

If your QL 19 is, in fact, broken, the cheapest and easiest fix is probably to buy another one on ebay. They aren't particularly easy to repair and the insides are a bit of a mechanical nightmare. Worthe trying the oil trick though.

 

My guess is that cocking the shutter will "fix" the "problem".

[wayne_scott]

Matt,

 

I have a QL-19 that had a similiar problem with the aperature blades not moving. I sent it to a repair man and he did a little photo essay on repairing the blades. It seems as though the lubricants over time become jello-like and prevent the aperature blades from moving. He took the lens apart cleaned out the old lubricants and now the camera operates just fine. I would give you his info, but he no longer does camera repairs due to health reasons.

 

Yes, replacing the body seals has nothing to do with the aperature blades not moving, but they should be replaced. Every Canonette that I have purchased has had seals that have turned to a sticky goo. I have only a small number of Canonettes (maybe a dozen, QL-17 G-IIIs, QL-19, QL-25, 28, and just plain Canonette) so I suppose it is possible to find one with good seals.

 

FWIW.

 

Wayne

[matt_m__toronto_]

thanks guys for the replies. i found a couple of the links mentioned above and have now ripped out the light meter :) d'oh. oh well, i use an incident anyway. i'll check out the matt d link more later on.

 

after cocking and firing the shutter multiple times , the aperture nudged open to where i set it originaly. i suspect it is gummed up inside, but i was not able to actully get in and touch the aperture on the blades.

 

wayne, do you have that photo essay on file that you could send me?

 

not really interested in getting another, i think this would be a fun little cam to have in the pocket and for at night. all in, got the camera case and canonet flash for 10 bucks, so i figure if it works 50% of the time, that's fine :) even if the aperture stays at 1.9

[matt_m__toronto_]

upon further investigating, the aperture turns very in tune when closing down, but when opening, no movement. i think maybe there is a catch inside the aperture ring that is not 'catching'

 

does this make any sense at all?

[wayne_scott]

Matt,

 

No, unfortunately I did not save the photo essay to my computer and it is no longer on the net. It was pretty amazing the way the lubricants looked like cottage cheese when he removed them.

 

Sorry,

 

Wayne

[frank_wilson3]

<p>On all older Canonet cameras I had removed the lens along with its attached mounting board and of course the lens assemblies were removed also. Then I left the lens set for one month in a covered tub submersed in solvent. Once a week I would remove the assembly and let it drain for an hour. Then I refilled the tub with fresh solvent again and soak it for another week. Every week I drained the solvent and let the lens assembly set out for one hour and added fresh solvent. After the 30 days expired I let the lens assembly dry out for a week and the shutter and aperture did work like new again. I never lubracated anything inside of them and as of now I have three older Canonet cameras that still operate to this day taking great photoigraphs. The oldest one was done four years ago. Also it is the first one made back in 1961 with the rapid bottom winder. This trick was given to me by an old camera tech that told me these older cameras that are not worth that much may be well worth soaking instead. I have found that if you use charcoal lighter fluid it has a lubracant in it so it will not flare up when lite. The residue must be wiped off the blades for it leave a very light film which you will see if not done after the lenses are assembled to the lens barrel</p><div></div>